Despite reform pressure, at least 25 want to be SFPD chief

Acting San Francisco Police Chief Toney Chaplin, shown at a Police Commission meeting, is one of the candidates for the job, which has many applicants from the current police brass.

Photo: Josh Edelson, JOSH EDELSON / SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The jostling to become San Francisco’s next top cop has intensified, with the acting chief and at least 24 other applicants working to line up support while asserting they have the skill to guide a police force under pressure in the wake of controversial shootings and accusations of bias.

That the candidates include several members of the current police brass, including Acting Police Chief Toney Chaplin, underscores one of the central questions facing the Police Commission and Mayor Ed Lee — whether to promote a department veteran familiar with the city or bring in an outsider who might be more aggressive with reforms.

At least two of Chaplin’s five deputy chiefs are expected to apply by Wednesday’s deadline, which comes three months after former Chief Greg Suhr resigned in the wake of an officer’s killing of an unarmed African American car-theft suspect.

The Police Commission, which will narrow the list to three or fewer candidates, and Lee, who will then pick a chief, have received input from the American Civil Liberties Union as well as a group of minority officers that offered a list of suitable internal and external choices. Chinatown power broker Rose Pak has also entered the mix, throwing her weight behind Deputy Chief Garret Tom.

The search comes at a sensitive time for the department, which is in the midst of a top-to-bottom review by the U.S. Department of Justice that sprang from another disputed police killing of a black person in December. An ad-hoc panel of judges that studied the force — prompted by the emergence of bigoted text messages exchanged among several officers — recently concluded it needed to do more to root out systemic bias.

The department is attempting to enact major changes to the way officers do their jobs, giving them body cameras and changing use-of-force policies to emphasize the de-escalation of potentially dangerous encounters.

Chaplin, who is widely believed to be a front-runner, said this month that he wanted the job permanently. He said his time on the streets allowed him to earn the respect of both community members and rank-and-file officers. The mayor has praised Chaplin’s work, while the police officers union supports him. And Suhr also gave Chaplin a strong endorsement.

“The police officers strongly believe he is the right leader at the right time,” said Nathan Ballard, an adviser to the Police Officers Association.

The support for Chaplin, though, hasn’t deterred others in the department from seeking the job. Deputy Chief Mikail Ali, a 25-year veteran of the force who heads the department’s special operations bureau, said Friday he will seek the post.

“The goal has to be ensuring we provide A-1 service to the community in all respects,” Ali said. “You can legislate it as best you can. You can change policy. But at the end of the day, it requires leadership. And I believe that’s what I have to make this happen.”

Another potential candidate is Deputy Chief Tom, who has served in the department for 35 years and who replaced Chaplin as head of the department’s new Professional Standards and Principled Policing Bureau, which is responsible for implementing reforms. Tom said Friday he will probably apply.

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to say I am,” he said, “and then all the daggers come out and all the hit pieces from every spot.”

Tom has the influential backing of Pak, long a force in city politics. In an interview, she criticized the application process, saying it was was rigged in favor of Chaplin.

“My complaint is: Why go through all this farce and do a nationwide search that’s a waste of taxpayers’ money?” Pak said.

Pak is not the only one who has raised concern about the process. Officers for Justice, an organization representing African American and other nonwhite city officers, wrote in an Aug. 22 letter to the Police Commission that it should “ensure that the pool of prospective candidates include individuals who are willing to make significant improvements in the department’s internal and external race relations.”

The group recommended the commission consider nine internal candidates — among them Chaplin, Tom and Ali — and named five individuals outside the force whom the group termed “excellent candidates.”

They include Charles Ramsey, the former police chief in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and Ronald Davis, a former Oakland police captain and East Palo Alto chief who now directs the U.S. Department of Justice’s community policing office, which is conducting the review in San Francisco. It is not known if either Ramsey or Davis plans to apply for the San Francisco job.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California weighed in as well, encouraging Lee to reach out to external candidates and saying the city’s history of not hiring police chiefs from outside the department, among other factors, could send a message that such candidates were at a disadvantage.

“The goal of creating significant reform in the SFPD will be undermined at the outset if the process of hiring a chief does not reflect the city’s commitment to finding someone who can provide leadership in a time of great change,” Alan Schlosser, the group’s senior counsel, wrote in a letter to the mayor.

Lee has said he supports Chaplin’s leadership but has denied making up his mind on a permanent chief.

“The mayor is committed to getting the most qualified and dedicated police chief to lead SFPD,” Lee spokeswoman Deirdre Hussey said. “As the city charter dictates, it is the role of the Police Commission to recruit and vet candidates. ... The mayor will honor this process and has confidence in the Police Commission and their ability to recruit, vet and recommend top-tier candidates.”

Twenty-five people had applied as of Friday, said Police Commission President Suzy Loftus. She said she did not know how many were internal candidates.

The city hired a search firm, Ralph Andersen & Associates, to help in the hunt for a chief. The Police Commission will begin reviewing applications in mid-September, Loftus said, and by early November will forward no more than three applicants to the mayor for consideration.

The mayor could reject the applicants and tell the commission to try again. A version of that happened in March in Chicago, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel rejected the three finalists for police superintendent and instead appointed an internal candidate.

Emily Green covers San Francisco City Hall, focusing on the mayor’s office and the Board of Supervisors. Previously, Emily covered the California Supreme Court for the Daily Journal, a legal affairs publication, and freelanced stories for National Public Radio. An Atlanta native, Emily spent a year reporting in the Philippines on a Fulbright Fellowship. She previously lived and worked in Chile for a year. Emily is interested in justice related issues, the ins and outs of San Francisco politics and the city's life at large.